The Japan Foundation in Russell Square, London (map), hasannounced a talk on September 25 at 6.30 p.m. Tickets can be booked by emailing event@jpf.org.uk with your name and the title of the event. From the website:

Gekiga: The Evolution of Alternative Manga. The gritty genre of “Gekiga” was named by Yoshihiro Tatsumi in 1957. It aimed to differentiate itself from mainstream Manga and depict realism in daily life while pursuing a more systematic induction of the reader's gaze. Mitsuhiro Asakawa, an award winning historian of Gekiga, will introduce some of Japan's most influential Gekiga artists and reflect on his personal encounters with them, as well as explore the original source of creativity in Gekiga expression and the social circumstances that resulted in this style. Following the talk, Paul Gravett, a journalist and author specialising in comics publishing and promotion, will join the conversation.

In addition, there will be an exhibition on Gekiga: Alternative Manga from Japan at the Cartoon Museum in Little Russell Street (map) from September 23 to November 29.

Since February 2012, the Koe-no Ouji-sama ("Princes of Voice") CD series has featured classic Disney songs covered by notable Japanese male voice actors. Now, a fourth CD will be released compiling the best of the series along with a new piece by a new voice actor.

Disney Koe-no Ouji-sama All-Stars is slated to include the following songs:

The complete song list is still undetermined, however, as is the identity and singer of the new piece. Disney Koe-no Ouji-sama All Stars is scheduled for release on November 5 and can be pre-ordered for 3,888 yen (or $37.39) on amazon.co.jp.

The official Sony PlayStation channel began streaming a new trailer for Square Enix's upcomingKingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMIX PlayStation 3 game on Thursday. The video shows new episodes, bosses, items, and challenges in the game.

The game will contain Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix (an updated version of Kingdom Hearts II thatSquare Enix originally released only in Japan for the PS2), Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix(an updated version of Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep that Square Enix originally released only in Japan for the PSP), and HD remastered cutscenes of the Kingdom Hearts Re:codedNintendo DS game.

Square Enixreleased the first PS3 HD remaster of its Kingdom Hearts role-playing game series in March in Japan. That game contained Kingdom Hearts Final Mix and Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain ofMemories, as well as HD remastered cutsenes of Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days. Square Enixshipped the game in North America, Australia, and Europe in September.

Idea Factoryannounced on Thursday that it will release the PlayStation Vita game Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth2: Sisters Generation (Chō Jijigen Game Neptune Re;Birth 2 Sisters Generation) in North America and Europe. The game will get both a physical and a digital release in early 2015.

The game is a remake of the Chōjigen Game Neptune mk2 (Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2) PS3 game. Idea Factorydescribes the story:

20XX - Gamindustri faces a dire crisis. Shops are boarded up, creators are overworked and starving, and death looms over all Gamindustrimen. But the CPUs refuse to let this be game over for their world! Gamindustri had severed its ties to the chaotic Lawless Realm long ago, and yet... Ever since the advent of ASIC - the Arfoire Syndicate of International Crime - morality has all but vanished. As much as 80 percent of all students are rumored to worship a being known as Arfoire. Parents, despite knowing it to be a poor deity to worship, have gone ahead and allowed their children to do so. Even the governing bodies of the world have turned a blind eye to it, rather than crush the crisis in its infancy. Well, basically, Gamindustri was pretty messed up, you guys. Ahem. Thus did Gamindustri fall into complete and utter disarray. Those who tire of living in this corrupt world are sent to wander the Gamindustri Graveyard, forever lost.

NIS Americareleased the Hyperdimension Neptunia and Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2 games in North America. Idea FactorypublishedHyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth1, the remake of the firstHyperdimension Neptunia game, in North America on Tuesday and in Europe on Wednesday.

Like the first Re;Birth game, the second will feature both English and Japanese voiceovers.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of Hello Kitty fulfilling a mission of warming hearts all over the world. But while everyone may be celebrating this momentous birthday party, it seems that there are a few misunderstandings that need to be clarified. After 40 years of childrens toys, accessories, anime, and more, Sanrio has cleared up what may be the most mind-blowing misconception about the iconic character – Hello Kitty is not a cat.

The revelation was brought to light thanks to anthropologist Christine R. Yano, a professor at the University of Hawaii. During the proofreading stage of Yano's script for the opening presentation of the upcoming Hello Kitty exhibit at downtown L.A.'s Japanese American National Museum,Sanrio representatives stopped her on her reference to Kitty as a cat.

"I was corrected — very firmly," she said, according to the L.A. Times. "That's one correctionSanrio made for my script for the show. Hello Kitty is not a cat. She's a cartoon character. She is a little girl. She is a friend. But she is not a cat. She's never depicted on all fours. She walks and sits like a two-legged creature. She does have a pet cat of her own, however, and it's called Charmmy Kitty."

Interestingly enough, this is not the only revelation that Kitty has to offer us, as Yano explains that Kitty is a citizen of Great Britain. According to Kitty's backstory, which can be found onSanrio's Sanriotown, this little girl, who happens to have feline characteristics, lives in London, England. Furthermore, despite another misconception of confusing the character's name with thefranchise name of "Hello Kitty," her actual name is Kitty White, and she is the daughter of George and Mary White.

There is more information about Yano's thesis that can be read in the original coverage of the story from the L.A. Times, including the history of Kitty's significance to the Asian American community. "Hello! Exploring the Supercute World of Hello Kitty," opens on October 11 at the Japanese American National Museum in downtown Los Angeles. The opening of the exhibit will soon be followed by America's first ever Hello Kitty Con, to be held from October 30 to November 2 at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art).

Shinnosuke Tomari/Kamen Rider Drive is a member of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department before stepping aside due to personal tragedy, Shinnosuke is re-recruited for the Special Unit to fight the Roimyuudo-receiving the Drive Driver & supercar Trideron to aid him in battle.

Finally, we have also learned that the series’ theme song, "Surprise-Drive" will be performed by Mitsuru Matsuoka (Kamen Rider Eternal). Kamen Rider Drive’s head writer is Riko Sanjo, a fan-favorite tokusatsu writer best known for Kamen Rider W and Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger.

The Tokyo MPD Special Unit also consists of Kiriko, the technical support expert. Unlike most of the Special Unit she is aware of Drive’s secret identity and as such she can sometimes cover for him.

Rinna, a physicist in charge of researching the Roimyuudo and maintaining the Special Unit’s technology; Kyuu, a network researcher who harbors a secret obsession with the occult; Genpachirou, a hostile lieutenant who considers the Special Unit a burden and frequently mocks the other members; and Tsurutarou, the Chief of Police with years of experience in regular detective work.

Kamen Rider Drive’s real name is Shinnosuke Tomari. He is a car fanatic and police officer in his off-hours. The Drive transformation works by changing a Shift Car into Lever Mode and then inserting it to the Shift Bracelet. The Drive Driver speaks to Shinnosuke during combat & offers him helpful advice.

Drive’s default combat Type is Speed -accessed by using the Shift Speed Car. Additional Shift Cars will change Drive’s Type and in turn slightly alter the suit (the major change seen in these scans is a change to the tire-sash across Drive’s chest).

Kamen Rider Drive's villains are called the Roimudem, android-like beings who wish to be human and they use small devices known as Viral Cores similar to Drive’s own Shift Cars. Most of the Roiymyuudo are sealed within a digital network and do not have physical forms, although they can control ordinary citizens by forming an emotional connection.

The Roimyuudo Leaders do have physical bodies, and wish to raise an army in rebellion against humans. The main leader is known as Heart and works mostly in shadow to accomplish his goals. Another Roimyuudo called Brains carries out attacks on humans to gain new intelligence that may assist other fighters.

A third mysterious villain, Chase is said to work alongside the Roimyuudo as a hitman but there may to this.

Patema Inverted, from Time of Eve director Yasuhiro Yoshiura, is a perspective-twisting sci-fi adventure about two kids separated by opposite gravities. Patema lives in an underground world of tunnels, the long-abandoned ruins of a giant industrial complex. Though she is a princess, she is held back by the rules imposed by the elders of her clan. One day when she is exploring in a forbidden zone, she is startled by a strange bat-like creature and tumbles headlong into a void and out into the wide-open world above the surface – a place in which Patema risks “falling up” into the sky and being lost forever. Student Age lives on this surface world, a totalitarian society whose compliant population has been brainwashed against the “sinners who fell into the sky.” When Age spies Patema hanging upside-down from a tree, he pulls her down to safety. Once they master the art of navigating competing gravitational forces – their weights cancel each other out – the pair sets out to evade the leaders of Age's world and discover the secret that keeps their worlds apart.

Patema Inverted premiered in France in June 2013 and in Japan in November 2013. Distribution company GKidsannounced that they would release the film in North America in November 2013, and British distributor Anime Limitedannounced the English dub cast in May after its Kickstarter campaign for the dub reached its goal after one day.

GKids will release the film on DVD on November 11. Anime Limitedsays that it is aiming for a late September release for Kickstarter backers in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, France, The Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland and Monaco.

Kodansha is reaching out to international fan artists for art pieces to include in volume 46 of the Fairy Tail manga, which means your artwork could be read be published in a Japanese graphic novel. The graphic novel, which will be released in Japan in November and in English a few weeks later in eBook format, will contain two full spreads from around the world, hand-picked by Hiro Mashima with added comments.

The art will appear in the "Guild d'Art" section, which typically features fan art submitted from Japan and other parts of Asia.

For more information on how to submit your artwork, check out Kodansha's blog post here.

The BBC have released two new clips from the upcoming episode, Into the Dalek. The first is an extension of the "Am I a Good Man?", used in the trailers where it reveals The Doctor's reaction. The second is an extension of the "I'm his carer" clip, showing the Dalek asking for help.

The BBC Media Centre has confirmed that Robots of Sherwood will air on 6th September at 7.30pm and finish at 8.20pm.

In a sun-dappled Sherwood forest, the Doctor discovers an evil plan from beyond the stars and strikes up an unlikely alliance with Robin Hood.With all of Nottingham at stake, the Doctor must decide who is real and who is fake. Can impossible heroes really exist?

BBC Worldwidehave announced that the award-winning virtual world gameMinecraftis to receive a visit from the Doctor from September.

DOCTOR WHO COMES TO MINECRAFT ON XBOX

BBC Worldwide are delighted to announce a deal with Microsoft Studios and Mojang which will bring Doctor Who - the world’s longest running science fiction drama – to ‘Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition’.

From September 2014, Minecraft players will have access to a range of Doctor Who assets which will allow them to change their avatar to resemble their favourite characters from the show. The first pack will include a character inspired by the Twelfth Doctor as well as five other Doctors, each of their on-screen companions and some of the Doctor’s most well known adverseries including his arch-nemeses, the Daleks.

We’re constantly looking for new and innovative ways to bring Doctor Who content to our loyal fans. Working collaboratively with Microsoft, we’ve created an exciting new product which will allow Doctor Who fans to create their own brand new adventures in the heart of the iconic world of Minecraft.

The deal will bring more packs as time goes on, introducing many of the most recognisable characters from the past 50 years of Doctor Who. Each skin pack will feature at least six Doctors and will be released regularly following the broadcast of the first episode.

Minecraft is one of the fastest selling Xbox game of all time with over 13 million sales to date. The deal to bring Doctor Who to Minecraft builds on BBC Worldwide’s successful partnership with Microsoft, which has seen Microsoft publish Forza racing games complete with Top Gear themed challenges and features.

Minecraft is a game about breaking and placing blocks. At first, people built structures to protect against nocturnal monsters, but as the game grew, players worked together to create wonderful, imaginative things.

It can also be about adventuring with friends or watching the sun rise over a blocky ocean. It’s pretty. Brave players battle terrible things in The Nether, which is more scary than pretty. You can also visit a land of mushrooms if it sounds more like your cup of tea.

Available on over 84 million Xbox devices worldwide.

Packs will be available to purchase by players from the XBox Game Store, with the first pack priced at £1.99/€2.85/$2.99/$2.95AUS.

The BBC has released a video highlighting the Doctor Who world Tour.MeanwhileReetu Kabra, a publicist for BBC Worldwide who set up international press coverage for the new series has been telling the BBC staff magazine,Ariel, about her highlights of the trip.

Seoul

The Korean fans came out in full force as we stepped off the plane with Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman reaching veritable rock star status.

More than 1,000 people attended the screening - tickets sold out in two minutes - and gave Peter and Jenna treats such as ornamental silk fans, luxury boxes of ginseng and, as expected, heaps of fan-made art. In return, Peter and Jenna greeted their audience in Korean on stage, while the media hung on their every word, frantically typing on their mind-boggling keyboards.

Sydney

Our photo call at the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge attracted fans and paparazzi alike with many of the national newspapers running picture stories the following day.

It's odd to think that most British people go to Australia for the holiday of a lifetime, yet our team was there for 48 hours. We had little time to soak up the city and the jet lag was starting to creep in. But most of us got selfies with the Opera House.

New York

The American screening took place at the iconic Ziegfeld Theatre in midtown Manhattan. A vintage yellow taxi brought the cast to the venue where photographers snapped them on a Tardis-Blue carpet. As the event began, the crowd raised their sonic screwdrivers and cheered. One fan even screamed The first Italian Doctor!

After the press rounds, we eventually made it to the Top of the Rock - the Rockefeller Centre - where we did a photo shoot against the iconic New York skyline.

Mexico City

On arrival at the airport, dozens of fans greeted us with sombreros, singing made-up DW-related songs in Spanish. We could feel the warmth, physically and emotionally, of Latin America. Of all the events we put together for the world tour, the crowd in Mexico were, in my opinion, the most receptive and loudest. It was also the biggest event of the tour with more than 3,000 fans.

The morning after our arrival, a group of fans congregated outside our hotel. As I stood outside watching them, one of them actually came up to me and said "I follow you on Twitter - thank you so much for coming to Mexico". At that point, I really started to feel that we as a group - cast and crew - were connecting with fans whom we previously had little idea about. They were so immensely grateful for our visit that we couldn't help but feel overwhelmed.

Rio de Janeiro

The Brazilian press had already been warmed up earlier in the year by a visit from Doctor Who writer Mark Gatiss, so their appetites were whetted and ready for Peter, Jenna and Steven's arrival.

Following a successful press conference, the final screening was attended by 2,000 Brazilian fans, with Peter high-fiving people as he walked past. The morning of our departure was probably one of the most surreal of the trip - our team visited the Christ the Redeemer statue overlooking Rio.